Chopin wrote a great deal of music for the piano in genres classified as ‘dance’. Particular to him though was that among his choice dances, one was Polish, the mazurka, which by definition has a strong emphasis on the second beat of a triple meter. Despite their naming, these pieces are not lifted from actual, authentic mazurka music and are more inspired by his exposure to his native culture. It is perhaps due to Chopin’s work that mazurkas became widely known to the world of Western music. He composed several opuses dedicated to them, exercising a great deal of compositional muscle in the process, crafting each to be unique in its own way. This is the mazurka in G minor, Op. 67, No. 2, which has several wonderful moments and surprises, including an entrancing downward chromatic descent interrupted by an abrupt grace-note figure.
Played by Idil Biret.
